Saints Free Agency: Exploring Impact of New Orleans' Salary Cap
The New Orleans Saints are now more than a week removed from the end of their disappointing 7-9 season, and the team has shifted its focus toward free agency.
New Orleans headed into the 2014 season with tremendously high expectations. Coming off an 11-5 season and a divisional playoff run in 2013, many national media analysts tapped coach Sean Payton’s club to contend for a divisional title and a spot in the Super Bowl.
As Saints fans well know, however, a lot went wrong in 2014.
TOP NEWS
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Colts Release Kenny Moore
Projecting Every NFL Team's Starting Lineup 🔮
Rookie WRs Who Will Outplay Their Draft Value 📈
Thanks largely to a porous defense, New Orleans stumbled out of the gates to a 1-3 start. Although the Saints would later post impressive wins over the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, they never could separate themselves in the NFC South.
After dropping its last five games at home, New Orleans was eliminated from playoff contention a week before the season ended.
Payton’s squad is in dire need of improvement, and free agency presents the first opportunity to bring some new faces into the fold.
Before the team hits the market, however, the Saints’ first order of business will be addressing their looming salary-cap situation.
New Orleans must be under the cap when the league year begins on March 10. The 2015 cap has been widely estimated to be between $138 million and $143 million, although the final number has yet to be determined.
The Saints’ 2015 cap number currently sits at roughly $162 million, as seen on this OverTheCap.com chart.
Their situation is bordering on a crisis, and it’s one of the worst such predicaments in the NFL at the moment. The team will undoubtedly have to make some major moves just to get under the cap, and even more moves will be required if New Orleans intends to sign any free agents.
In order to clear space, the Saints can first look into the restructuring of existing contracts. Reworking the gargantuan contract of quarterback Drew Brees makes a lot of sense, as does restructuring other deals that call for sizable roster bonuses.
Then there's the massive contract of pass-rusher Junior Galette, who was arrested for domestic violence on Monday. Galette is due an enormous roster bonus of $12.5 million, and the Saints will have a big decision to make regarding his future in light of his recent arrest.
While restructuring existing deals will certainly help, it won't get the job completely done. The most effective way for the Saints to get under the cap is to cut some of their sizable contracts.
One of the top candidates for a release is wide receiver Marques Colston. The former seventh-round pick out of Hofstra has been the most reliable receiver of the Payton-Brees era, but his contract for next season accounts for a whopping $9.7 million cap hit.
There are also guards Jahri Evans and Ben Grubbs, whose contracts make for $11 million and $9.6 million cap hits, respectively. Both are fine players, but neither performed at a level this season that commands that type of money. Releasing either one would make a big difference in the Saints’ total cap number for 2015.
Another candidate for release is linebacker David Hawthorne, who had an up-and-down season. The seventh-year inside linebacker had his moments in 2014 with some eye-popping hits in run support, but he was often out of position, and he consistently struggled defending the pass.
Hawthorne, who’s due a $2.5 million roster bonus, will account for a $6 million cap hit in 2015.
Linebacker Curtis Lofton and nose guard Brodrick Bunkley aren’t out of the woods, either. Lofton was a tackling machine in most games, but his lack of top-end linebacker speed hurt him in passing situations. He’s also up for a huge roster bonus of $4.5 million.
Ultimately, the decision regarding which players are expendable will lie with general manager Mickey Loomis, but the players mentioned above should be the top candidates for release.
After the Saints take care of their problematic salary-cap predicament, they’ll turn their attention to current players whose contracts have run out.
Running back Mark Ingram stands out as the most high-profile of these players.
During a season in which little went right for New Orleans, the former Heisman winner was a rare bright spot. He ran with purpose and intensity on a weekly basis, and he firmly established himself as New Orleans’ most reliable between-the-tackles runner.
The decision of whether to re-sign Ingram will be one of the Saints’ most scrutinized offseason dilemmas. Running backs aren't exactly in high demand around the league, however, and there's a decent chance New Orleans will be able to keep him on board.
Assuming the Saints do eventually shore up their salary-cap issues and make their decision on Ingram, the front office will then attempt to bolster the 2015 roster with some free-agency splashes.
What positions New Orleans elects to address will largely depend on the roster cuts the team decides to make, but there’s certainly no shortage of areas in need of attention.
After the New Orleans pass defense struggled in a big way in 2014, the cornerback position is now one of the Saints’ biggest concerns this offseason.
This year’s list of free agents at that spot includes Brandon Flowers of the San Diego Chargers, Kareem Jackson of the Houston Texans and Chris Culliver of the San Francisco 49ers. Any of the three would make for a solid No. 2 corner opposite Keenan Lewis.
The defensive line could also receive attention in free agency.
In the event New Orleans cuts Bunkley or John Jenkins, a space-eating nose guard will then become a top priority in defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's 3-4 base defense. According to Larry Holder of NOLA.com, the Saints have opted to bring back Ryan for another season.
Ndamukong Suh of the Detroit Lions sits atop this year’s crop of interior defensive lineman, but he’s better suited to play the 3-technique in a 4-3 alignment, and he’s likely to be far too expensive for New Orleans.
However, there are several other quality free-agent defensive linemen who could be plugged into the Saints’ 3-4 scheme at nose guard. These include the Denver Broncos' Terrance Knighton, the Arizona Cardinals' Dan Williams and the Cleveland Browns' Ahtyba Rubin.
Outside linebacker is another area the Saints could look to address via free agency. Jason Worilds of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Brian Orakpo of the Washington Redskins and Akeem Ayers of the New England Patriots, among others, are all on the market this offseason.
On the offensive side, there are no shortage of options for New Orleans. If the Saints elect to release one of their highly expensive guards, which is very possible at this point, they could take a hard look at the Denver Broncos' Orlando Franklin or the Cincinnati Bengals' Clint Boling in free agency.
Meanwhile, if New Orleans releases Colston, it isn’t necessarily a given that the team will replace him with a free agent or a draft pick.
Reserve wideout Nick Toon made a strong showing at the end of the season, and he could be a candidate to replace Colston as a possession receiver on the outside. 2014 undrafted rookies Brandon Coleman and Seantavius Jones could also be heavily considered for the role.
Managing their salary-cap quagmire is a doable, albeit difficult task, but the Saints will probably feel the lingering effects of this troublesome situation throughout the offseason. If forced to make roster cuts, the team will be under intense pressure to draft extremely well this May, especially if New Orleans fails to land any high-impact free agents.
Like many NFL teams, the New Orleans Saints will be facing some important decisions in the coming months, and making these calls won’t be easy for anyone involved. But no matter which direction the Saints choose to go in, major changes appear inevitable in New Orleans.
Saints' salary-cap numbers obtained via OverTheCap.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
